KABUL , Afghanistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A New York Times reporter who was kidnapped last week was freed Wednesday in a pre-dawn military raid in Afghanistan that left a British commando , an Afghan journalist and several others dead .

New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was abducted Saturday while covering a NATO airstrike in Afghanistan .

Stephen Farrell was rescued by NATO 's International Security Assistance Force , known as the ISAF , the British Foreign Office said .

A British commando died in the operation , the country 's Ministry of Defense said without offering further details .

Sultan Munad , an Afghan journalist accompanying Farrell , also was killed in the raid , British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said .

Crossfire during the raid also killed a woman and a child , said Abdel Wahid Omar Khil , governor of Kunduz district , in Kunduz province , where the rescue took place .

Armed gunmen kidnapped the journalists Saturday while they were covering a NATO airstrike on Taliban forces the day before that killed at least 90 people in the northern Kunduz province .

Neither CNN nor the Times had reported Farrell 's kidnapping for security reasons .

`` We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives , '' the paper quoted Executive Editor Bill Keller as saying Wednesday .

Farrell called the newspaper 's foreign editor before dawn and said he was `` extracted '' in a commando raid after a fierce firefight , according to a report on the Times Web site .

`` There were bullets all around us . I could hear British and Afghan voices , '' Farrell , a 46-year-old dual Irish-British citizen , told the paper .

Farrell and Munadi ran outside during the firefight . At the end of a wall , Munadi went forward , shouting : `` Journalist ! Journalist ! '' but dropped in a hail of bullets , Farrell said . He did n't know whether the shots came from allied or militant fire .

`` I saw him go down in front of me . He did not move . He 's dead , '' Farrell told the paper . `` He was so close , he was just 2 feet in front of me when he dropped . ''

Farrell 's citizenship played a role in the British decision to stage the rescue , said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense . Watch a former British commander on the difficulty in rescuing hostages ''

`` The obvious link for us is that Farrell is a British national . We want to safeguard the life of one of our citizens , '' the spokesman said , declining to discuss operational details of the rescue mission .

`` We do n't comment about the actions of British Special Ops forces . ''

Local Afghans provided information and helped the commandos locate where Farrell was being held , said another British official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter .

He said the judgment to proceed with such an operation `` is always a difficult one , but we think it represented the best chance to save his life . ''

Brown offered condolences to the families of Munadi and the British commando . Of the commando , Brown said , `` His bravery will not be forgotten . ''

The operation to rescue the hostages happened after extensive planning and consideration , Brown said .

`` Those involved knew the high risks they were running . That they undertook it in such circumstances showed breathtaking heroism , '' Brown said . `` Hostage-taking is never justified , and the U.K. does not make substantive concessions , including paying ransoms . But whenever British nationals are kidnapped , we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them . ''

Ten weeks earlier , another Times reporter escaped after months in Taliban captivity .

David Rohde , a local reporter and a driver were kidnapped November 10 outside Kabul .

The two reporters escaped on June 19 by climbing over a wall in the compound where they were held for seven months in Pakistan 's North Waziristan region . The driver did not escape , the newspaper said .

The death toll in the Kunduz airstrike , which Farrell was covering when he was kidnapped , has varied , depending on the source , but local Afghan officials have said at least half of those killed were civilians .

The NATO commander in the area called in the strike Friday as Afghans tried to siphon fuel from two tankers hijacked by the Taliban a day earlier .

The Taliban allowed villagers to drain the tankers carrying fuel earmarked for the NATO-led force after they became stuck in the mud when the militants tried to drive them through the Kunduz River .

The military thought there were no civilians near the trucks at the time of the attack , the ISAF 's Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said .

Farrell , who joined The New York Times two years ago , also was briefly kidnapped in April 2004 in Falluja , Iraq . At the time , he was on assignment for The Times of London .

In a separate incident Wednesday , a suicide attack killed at least two civilians and injured several others , including NATO personnel , near the main British military base in southern Afghanistan , the ISAF said .

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest near a crowd of civilian truck drivers near the entrance of Camp Bastion in volatile Helmand province , the ISAF said .

The injured civilians and ISAF personnel were treated at Camp Bastion , which is in Washir District . The casualty count is unclear as an investigation continues .

CNN 's Ingrid Formanek and Chris Lawrence contributed to this report .

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NEW : Local Afghans helped British locate abducted journalist , official says

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New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell freed in commando raid

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Afghan journalist killed in raid , British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says

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British commando also killed during raid ; woman , child die in crossfire